The present invention relates to fusion of multi-modal volumetric medical images, and more particularly, to model-based fusion of pre-operative computed tomography (CT) and intra-operative non-contrasted C-arm CT images.
In recent years, there has been a major trend in cardiac therapy towards minimally invasive procedures to reduce the risks involved with classical surgical techniques. Transcatheter valve interventions are becoming the standard therapy for high risk surgical patients. Such procedures off the potential to reduce morbidity, mortality, and costs of surgical valve replacement or repair, while accelerating patient recovery. One type of minimally invasive procedure is Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVI). The TAVI procedure involves accessing a femoral artery, performing balloon valvuloplasty, then advancing an artificial aortic valve across the native valve using a catheter. During rapid right ventricular pacing, a balloon is inflated to deploy the artificial valve. As there is no direct view of the affect anatomy, advanced imaging techniques such as 3D C-arm CT and real-time C-arm fluoroscopy are used for intra-operative guidance during such minimally invasive procedures. However, such intra-operative imaging modalities typically have limited image quality of soft tissue and reliable assessment of the cardiac anatomy typically must be achieved by injecting contrast agent, which can be harmful to patients and requires complex acquisition protocols.